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An Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) is a new requirement for foreign nationals from visa-exempt countries arriving in Canada by air, whether to visit the country directly or to pass through in transit.

Pilot Project for Foreign Spouses and Dependent Children of Highly Skilled Canadians or Permanent Residents Returning to Work in Ontario

Issue

The authorities released Operational Bulletin 229 on November 24, 2010. Initially, this pilot was due to conclude on May 23, 2012. However, the authorities have extended this pilot program by a further span of 18 months. As a result, this pilot would remain in effect until May 23, 2013. Therefore, this Operational Bulletin would be effective until then, as well.

Background

The parties concerned with the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement agreed to certain terms. These terms found mention in the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) annex to the Agreement for Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement. The parties signed this agreement in August 2008.

According to Article 4.3:

“4.3 Where a Canadian Permanent Resident or Citizen who has left Canada returns to Canada to re-establish their residence in Ontario and work in Ontario as a Skilled Worker, and he/she is accompanied by a foreign spouse or common law partner and/or dependents, Canada agrees to issue open work permits to that spouse or common law partner and those dependents upon application, provided the applicants are otherwise legally able to work in Ontario. These open work permits should have a validity period of two years.”

In addition, Article 4.3 of the Annex mentions that officers would need to provide an exemption to the dependents described in the above-mentioned excerpt. This waiver would ensure that these dependents do not need to obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO). However, the applicants would still need to meet all the admissibility criteria. Only once they meet this, would the authorities give them the status of a Temporary Resident in Canada.

Readers could view the entire text of the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement on the CIC website.

The Pilot Parameters

This pilot began on November 24, 2010. The authorities had envisaged that it would run for an initial duration of 18 months, concluding on May 24, 2012. Thereafter however, the authorities concerned have extended this pilot by one year – from May 24, 2012 to May 24, 2013 – inclusively.

The terms of the pilot would only apply to qualifying foreign nationals as described subsequently. Moreover, the terms would only be applicable to qualifying foreign nationals destined to work in the province of Ontario.

In addition, the authorities have restricted the occupations for the Canadian or Permanent Resident re-establishing in Ontario only to accommodate:

Health professionals and,

Academics in post-secondary public institutions

This is in accordance with the purposes prescribed for this pilot project. The authorities would first complete the review of this pilot project. Only then would they consider making any changes to these parameters.

The Pilot Procedures

Applicants for this pilot program would need to refer to the Temporary Foreign Worker’s Guidelines (FW 1). This manual contains all the:

General eligibility criteria

Conditions specified by the work permit and,

The processing procedures

All the above-mentioned details would continue to apply in conjunction with the procedures listed below.

Eligible Participants

To become eligible for obtaining an open work permit under this pilot program, the applicants would need to meet all the following criteria

They would need to:

Be a spouse, a common-law partner or a dependent child of a Canadian citizen or a Permanent Resident, who:

Is returning to work in Ontario as:

A Health professional or,

An academic in post-secondary public institutions

This Operational Bulletin lists the occupations allowed under this pilot project at the bottom of this document

These conditions are in accordance with Section 2, Interpretation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR)

The applicant would need to provide this letter for confirming the employment, location and occupation on behalf of the returning Canadian citizen or permanent resident

Be eligible to work in the Province of Ontario

Situations could emerge where the applicants are working-age dependents

In this scenario, the employers of these working-age dependents would need to bear the responsibility of ensuring adherence to the provincial minimum age employment standards

Have the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Case Processing Centre – Mississauga (CPC-M) approve their application for Family Class sponsorship, filed by the returning Canadian citizen or permanent resident

The Process for Issuance of Open Work Permits

The process for issuing open work permit involves the following steps:

Officers could issue a non job-specific open or open / restricted work permit to a foreign spouse, common-law partner or a dependent child

Officers would not need to check whether the applicant has a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from Service Canada accompanying the application

In this situation, the dependent would need to apply for the work permit and pay the appropriate fees

Officers could issue these work permits based on the medical examination requirements, if applicable. This is applicable especially if the officers are issuing a restricted work permit to the foreign spouse, common-law partner or a dependent child.

The work permit only enables the participant to work in the Province of Ontario only – for the purposes of this pilot

Applicants could apply for an open work permit:

Overseas, or,

In Canada to CPC-Vegreville via:

Mail or,

E-Application

Applicants, who are nationals of visa exempt countries, could also apply at a Port of Entry